A Cannon Fodder Who Became The Future Queen - Chapter 12

If she used each draw opportunity separately, she would have to wait in suspense every time, hoping for an Excellent-grade item. Ji Ping’an found the idea too much of a torment, so she decided to use the remaining fourteen draws all at once.

As soon as she confirmed the decision in her mind, the Draw Opportunities counter on the system screen instantly changed to zero. Even though it was just a virtual currency, Ji Ping’an felt her heart ache. This was favorability she had painstakingly earned after starting from rock bottom!

Perhaps because there were so many draws, the system screen changed more slowly than before. The page began to ripple like water from the position of the draw button. Slowly, a faint golden light began to emanate from the edges. Like watching a sunrise by the sea, the brilliant golden rays gradually covered all the watery ripples, making the entire screen magnificent and grand.

She had drawn an Excellent-grade item again!

With her previous experience, Ji Ping’an didn’t even bother to look at the screen. She immediately scurried off the bed to avoid another item dropping on her head. Before she could even steady herself, she saw a pile of items appear in the air. Then, with a whoosh, they all fell at the same time, hitting the ground with a clatter.

Ji Ping’an: “…”

Good thing I was fast. Otherwise, the system would be charged with “attempted murder of the host.”

Once the items had all landed, she got back on the bed and scrolled through the item list. She had received eleven Common-grade items, two Fine-grade items, and one Excellent-grade item.

Ji Ping’an immediately skipped the system’s overly dramatic item descriptions and went straight to the Fine and Excellent ones. She hadn’t misread it; not only did she get a Fine-grade item she’d never seen before, but she also got an Excellent one!

[Congratulations on obtaining an Excellent-grade item: [Stamina Supplement]. Valid for [Indefinite Use].]

[Item Description: From within the infinite world, an eruption of the most primal and eternal strength.]

[Congratulations on obtaining a Fine-grade item: [Grid Storage Space] x2. Valid for [Indefinite Use].]

[Item Description: A small grid with great power. Whatever cannot be kept or put down can be placed here.]

Thankfully, while the item descriptions were useless, the item names were clear and to the point. Ji Ping’an silently guessed that the Excellent-grade item would increase her strength. She just didn’t know how much.

[Confirm use of [Stamina Supplement]?]

“Confirm.”

The moment she confirmed, Ji Ping’an felt her body change from the inside out. Her breathing became steadier, her legs felt lighter, and her whole body was filled with a sense of power. She quickly got onto the floor and tried to lift the heaviest thing in the room: the bed. With a little effort, the bed lifted right off the ground, incredibly easy.

This was something the old Ji Ping’an could never have done. If she were to be rated on a scale of 100, her previous strength would have barely reached 45/100, unable to even compare to the most ordinary qian yuan. But with the Strength Point Supplement, she could now reach at least 75/100!

It was worthy of being an Excellent-grade item. It had permanently boosted her physical fitness! Ji Ping’an could barely contain her excitement. She felt that this Excellent-grade item was even better than the [Targeting Auxiliary Scope]. After all, when she’d faced Gong Rong, she had only kicked him twice, and her own legs had cramped up. While she hadn’t let Gong Rong bully her, if more people had shown up, she might not have kept her calm. Not to mention, with her previous physique, she would have been out of breath after hiking for half a day, only able to make it to the county on sheer willpower.

In this world, having strength was what kept her and her family safe and allowed her to earn money.

After examining the Excellent-grade item, Ji Ping’an’s gaze fell on the system screen, where two empty squares had appeared at the bottom. These must be the two Fine-grade [Grid Storage Space] items she had drawn.

She tried picking up the radish she had just gotten, mentally saying “store.” In the blink of an eye, the radish in her hand disappeared, and a radish icon appeared in one of the squares on the system page.

Ji Ping’an blinked, then mentally said “retrieve.” The radish instantly reappeared on her bed.

She immediately went to the corner of her room, placing her hand on the sacks of wheat flour and rice, trying to put them into the storage space. But this time, it didn’t work. A notification popped up.

[Notice: Each grid can only hold one type of item.]

Ji Ping’an moved her hand to the side, placing it only on the sack of wheat flour. This time, no notification appeared, and she successfully stored the flour in the system space.

After two experiments, she had a basic grasp of the rules for the [Grid Storage Space]. It was like a “backpack” from a game. It could store real-world items without limiting their size or weight. But each grid could only hold one type of item; she couldn’t put different kinds of items in the same square.

With the Excellent and Fine items sorted, Ji Ping’an finally looked at the Common-grade items she had drawn.

The Common-grade items were: a pumpkin, a cabbage, a cloth towel, 10 vegetable seeds (can be exchanged for any vegetable seeds), wooden chopsticks, a cotton quilt, a hemp rope, a wooden carving, relaxing music, and a wild crucian carp.

Counting the two pairs of chopsticks, there were eleven Common items in total. Except for the [Relaxing Music], which had a [15-minute] duration, the rest were all [Indefinite Use].

Ji Ping’an first put the still-wiggling wild crucian carp into the storage space so it would be alive when she took it out tomorrow. She put the pumpkin, cabbage, radish, and chopsticks into her basket. Tomorrow, she could just put them in the kitchen and say she had brought them back from the county. The remaining cloth, quilt, and hemp rope she stuffed into the cabinet; she could grab them whenever she needed them.

Even though these were Common items, they would save her money. She didn’t mind them at all. As for the wooden carving, it had little use, so she put it in the cabinet as well.

That left the last item: [Relaxing Music], with a 15-minute duration.

[Item Description: Night or day, let your thoughts wander a thousand miles and grant you a moment of ease.]

Ji Ping’an clicked to use it. The system began playing music. She couldn’t hear it with her ears; it played directly in her mind. It was the same instrumental song she had used most often as a content creator.

Ji Ping’an: “…”

After fifteen minutes, the music stopped. She didn’t know if she felt relaxed, but she knew one thing: a draw opportunity had been completely wasted. She could only pray that she would never draw one of these again!

She had been too excited from the late-night draws, so Ji Ping’an slept in the next day. When she woke up, Sui Sui and Shen Zhiyu were already up, washing their faces in the courtyard.

Shen Zhiyu had put on the old clothes she’d given her after her bath yesterday. The fabric was the coarse linen that villagers often wore, and the deep blue color had been washed out to a faint shade. Ji Ping’an was a little taller than her, so the clothes were a little loose. She had lightly rolled up the sleeves, revealing her slightly slender wrists.

The reddish marks from the day before had faded a bit, and after applying the ointment, they were a faint bruise-like blue.

Shen Zhiyu lowered her head and gently cupped some water in her hands to wet her face, her eyelashes getting damp in the process. When she straightened up, she saw a cloth towel being held out to her.

Ji Ping’an said in a perfectly natural tone, “Dry your face.”

Shen Zhiyu gave her a look, took the towel, and wiped her face clean before asking, “Where’s Sui Sui?”

“She said she wanted to make breakfast with you. She just went to my room to get the rice and flour,” Ji Ping’an said.

Shen Zhiyu nodded and put the towel back in its place. When they had woken up, Ji Ping’an’s door was still closed, so Sui Sui had suggested they make breakfast themselves.

Ji Ping’an asked, intrigued, “You’re going to cook, too, Ah Jiu?” In the original story, Shen Zhiyu had been raised in the palace from a young age. She shouldn’t have any cooking skills at all, let alone be able to use a rustic stove and a clay pot.

Shen Zhiyu gave her a light, dismissive glance. “It’s not for you, just for Sui Sui.”

Ji Ping’an: “…”

She knew the truth in her heart; she didn’t have to rub it in.

“That’s not what I meant. I just meant, do you know how to cook?”

Shen Zhiyu’s tone was flat. “Is there a problem with knowing how to cook?”

Ji Ping’an immediately shook her head. “No problem at all.”

Maybe the original story just didn’t mention it. Perhaps Shen Zhiyu was a superb cook in reality. Ji Ping’an decided she shouldn’t underestimate her.

Only then did Shen Zhiyu hum in acknowledgment and walk into the kitchen. Ji Ping’an didn’t follow. She finished washing her face outside and then pulled a willow branch from a tree by the door to brush her teeth.

At this time, every household was making breakfast, and smoke billowed from the chimneys. The sounds of people calling their children to get up, mixed with the chirping of birds in the branches, created a vibrant sense of daily life.

They still had very few ingredients, so Sui Sui was making wild herb pancakes again, along with some rice porridge. When Ji Ping’an got to the kitchen door, Shen Zhiyu was holding the batter, ready to cook the pancakes, while Sui Sui washed rice beside her.

She stood in the doorway, not wanting to disturb them, just watching her movements. From the way she washed her face to the way she held the batter, everything seemed ordinary and common, yet on Shen Zhiyu, it took on a certain grace. Her movements were unhurried, radiating an inner tranquility that was both elegant and calm.

But after appreciating the sight for a while, Ji Ping’an couldn’t watch any longer. She said to Shen Zhiyu, “You should flip the pancake. If you don’t, it’ll burn.”

She walked over to her side and saw that she was using a wooden spatula to poke at the pancake’s burnt edges, trying to flip the whole thing over. But because the fire was too hot and there wasn’t enough oil, the pancake was stuck to the bottom of the clay pot.

Shen Zhiyu tried a few times but couldn’t get it to lift. Instead, it just crumbled into pieces that could rival Sui Sui’s porridge. Ji Ping’an couldn’t hold back her laughter. She removed a couple of logs to make the fire smaller, then took the spatula from her to try and salvage the situation.

“It’s fine. It’s still edible; the pancake just has a slightly darker color.”

Shen Zhiyu: “…”

She had watched Ji Ping’an make the pancakes yesterday and had memorized every step. That’s why she’d decided to make them today. But she never expected the pancake, which had been fine moments before, to suddenly smell of burnt food.

She looked at the pancake in the bowl, a little unsure. “Is it really edible?”

Ji Ping’an nodded. “Of course. It tastes pretty much the same as a regular pancake, and the burnt part is even more fragrant.”

With that, she used her chopsticks to pick up a piece and put it in her mouth. After she swallowed it, she said, “This pancake is actually quite tasty. Do you want to try it?”

Since it was her own pancake, Shen Zhiyu wanted to taste it herself. She picked up a piece and put it in her mouth. The first thing she tasted was the unmistakable flavor of something burnt, and then… there was nothing else. The burnt taste completely overpowered the original flavor of the wheat flour and vegetables. There was nothing “tasty” about it at all.

Watching her taste the food, first with careful consideration and then with a deepening frown, Ji Ping’an’s lips curled into an uncontrollable smile. She finally laughed out loud, not forgetting to ask, “How is it? Was I right?”

Shen Zhiyu: “…”

She gave a cold laugh. “It’s delicious. If you like it so much, you should eat more.”

Ji Ping’an: “…”

On second thought, no thank you.